


Something to Come Home to

by Smoke_Wisp



Series: What the Heart Wants [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Keith's Birthday Week 2017, M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 19:03:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12463917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smoke_Wisp/pseuds/Smoke_Wisp
Summary: Most of the Garrison thought Shiro was mentoring the newest hot shot pilot. Those closer to Shiro knew about the deep and genuine friendship that existed between them. It was the relationship Keith was happy to accept. But something on Shiro’s end had changed in the past few months, about that Keith was certain. Changed to what though, Keith could only guess.My first foray into Sheith-fandom. Just in time for Keith's birthday





	Something to Come Home to

Keith wasn’t a party person. After two hours spent with increasingly inebriated and sentimental Garrison officers, he needed some air. At least Shiro was having a good time; it was his sendoff party. 

Shiro had wanted Keith here tonight. And Keith wanted whatever time Shiro could give him. Tomorrow would be filled with press conferences, meetings, and the formal pre-launch ceremony. 

Shiro had snagged him a pass for that one, but Keith didn’t think he’d last long. Shiro would be in the spotlight and Keith planned to fade into the background. He cringed at the thought of explaining what he, a third-year cadet, was doing palling around with a rising star like Shiro to a high-ranking officer or, even worse, a member of the press. 

Most of the Garrison thought Shiro was mentoring the newest hot shot pilot. Those closer to Shiro knew about the deep and genuine friendship that existed between them. It was the relationship Keith was happy to accept. But something on Shiro’s end had changed in the past few months, about that Keith was certain. Changed to what though, Keith could only guess.

The cold night that kept the other party goers off the back patio made for a clear sky. Keith easily located Venus and Jupiter. From his old astronomy textbook, he’d calculated out Pluto’s approximate location for this time of year. Not that you could see it, much less its moon, without a telescope.

The house door opened and Shiro poked out his head. 

“Found you,” he said.

“Too noisy in there,” Keith replied. 

Shiro walked to the railing where Keith stood and assumed the same position Keith had held, looking at the Milky Way sprawled across the desert sky. Keith relaxed into the silence, it was comfortable. 

“I’ll be back,” said Shiro abruptly.

“I know,” said Keith, rehashing familiar talking points, “It’s only a bit more than a year and with my class lineup I’ll hardly-“

“I mean, I’m coming back, for certain,” Shiro’s tone was decisive.

Keith gave him a quizzical look.

Shiro took a deep breath before continuing, “It’s just that I know you’ve lost a lot of people in your life.”

Keith had let that slip in their first conversation. It wasn’t something that he usually shared. But the best pilot, and, not to mention, best looking student at the Garrison had deemed to talk to him, a lowly first year, and nervousness had broken through Keith’s usual barriers.

He’d gotten an invite to an upperclassmen’s video tournament along with the others from the incoming pilot class. Keith had nearly scraped out a win against Shiro, and afterwards, Shiro had struck up a conversation with Keith, alone. A few compliments along with Shiro’s disarming smile had Keith relating to him the short version of his life: Abandoned by mother at five, raised until age nine by an alcoholic father who died in a car crash, and passed around various foster and group homes until he’d gotten into the Garrison. He’d even confessed to wanting desperately to reach the stars.

It had been liberating to be so honest. Afterwards he was embarrassed and confused and convinced that he’d never interact with Shiro again. A few days later, Shiro had sat down next to him in the cafeteria. That dinner conversation had led to a sparring match, which led to tutoring in astrophysics, and then just casual time hanging out. 

Their friendship was forged before Keith realized what was happening. Even after Shiro had graduated, they’d continued to talk and text daily. Keith had been the first person Shiro told about his assignment to the Kerberos mission. Knowing it was Shiro’s dream, Keith had been unwavering in his support, or at least he thought he’d been hiding his reservations. Apparently Shiro had seen through the façade.

“You’re not going to lose me,” Shiro pressed on.

“Yeah,” said Keith, “thanks.” He knew he should say something more and added, “you mean a lot to me.” Cheesy, but true.

Shiro placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder. It was a habit he’d fallen into back at the Garrison. Keith had never objected. Nor had he ever confessed how much he’d come to crave that touch.

Usually Shiro kept it manly. A solid pat followed by a quick light squeeze. But this time the touch started light, almost tentative, and he kept his hand there. It was the sad twist to Shiro’s smile that made up Keith’s mind.

He had a reputation for being impulsive and he let people think that. But in his own mind, Keith only took on challenges he knew he could handle, or was confident of a safe exit if they went wrong. And Keith had been considering this move, and its possible consequences, for a while.

He kissed Shiro. Softly, no lip mashing, but deliberately. 

Shiro kept still. Keith looked into his eyes, trying to measure Shiro’s response.

This was uncharted territory for them. There had been looks, or avoidance of looks, in the past month that could mean Shiro was seeing him in a new light. Or it could be nothing but Keith’s desperate wishes. If it was the latter, a stammered apology and a year apart would probably ease the awkwardness. 

Shiro’s eyes showed confusion, but he was hardly freaking out. Shiro gently touched Keith’s face with his free hand and then, he leaned in to return Keith’s kiss. It went on for a while. Keith was the one to break it, aware that they were in a public space.

“Something to come home to,” whispered Keith.

“Yeah,” a tender smile lit Shiro’s face.

They left it at that, no promises, no plans. Keith saw it as a protection – maybe this one good thing in his life would fly under the radar. 

No such luck. 

The Kerberos ship exploded upon entry. One more broken promise. One more person gone from his life. Keith didn’t take it well. 

A poorly handled confrontation at the Garrison and his resulting expulsion was just the start of his fall. Fights, petty crimes, one night stands, he even went so far as to get drunk once, waking up covered in sick and missing his wallet. 

Somehow, he managed to hang onto Shiro’s hover bike with just enough fuel to leave town behind when his offenses started to attract the attention of local gangs and law enforcement. But after town number six, even the fall had become an empty routine. Certain survivor instincts were reasserting themselves, looking for something to cling to.

On a lark, he wandered into the talk about extraterrestrials in Tucson. If the Garrison wouldn’t send him into space, perhaps he could hijack a UFO. It was all conspiracy garbage. From the geneticist who claimed he had a vial of alien human hybrid DNA to the guy wearing a tinfoil hat and asserting it was alien tech that the government had used to construct the Kerberos ship that caused its detonation, Keith didn’t believe any of it was real.

But by that time, Keith had enough of reality. The kooks in that room were offering a fantasy and his brain seized on it. As long as their theories and evidence didn’t involve flying, or Kerberos, or Shiro, he could throw himself into their imaginary world. Besides, it was nice to be surrounded by people certifiably more messed up than himself.

It stopped being a game when Blue called out to him. Not knowing why, he returned to the desert just beyond the Garrison’s jurisdiction and his former life. Through his new connections, he knew that unexplainable cosmic radiation was putting the space military on edge. From Blue’s whispering, he knew something was coming. 

The moment the UFO streaked across the sky, Keith put his plan into motion. Set off the fireworks, clear out security, use his fists on whoever else got in his way. He was ready for an alien.

Instead he found Shiro. From there, things got crazier than any abductee’s recovered memories. 

Keith should have been rejoicing in Shiro being alive and mostly in one piece, but there were more pressing matters to deal with: evading the Garrison’s military, finding the Blue Lion, evading aliens, finding out they were the last hope in a 10,000 year galactic war, barely getting his own lion before he died in a vacuum, barely forming Voltron before they all died. 

In the space of a couple quintents he’d severed any connection to the disaster of his past life. It was like Dorothy waking up in technicolor Oz, only there was no way he was going back to Kansas. It was an apt metaphor considering the other paladins. He wasn’t sure if Pidge was indeed heartless, but Hunk could use some courage and the cargo pilot, Lance, was critically lacking in the brains department.

With the defeat of the Galra battleship, Coran had pronounced their situation safe enough for everyone to get a good night’s rest. Keith had tried lying down, but his mind was too buzzy and unfocused. He ended up wandering the castle, choosing random corridors until by chance or subconscious desire, he ended up in the Black Lion’s hangar. Shiro was there, alone.

“Found you,” Keith said softly, not wanting to startle him. 

“Yeah, you’re good at that.”

They stood in surprisingly comfortable silence. The edgy feeling that had been pressing on Keith’s nerves receded, and for the first time in recent memory he felt peaceful. If he just ignored the giant black robot cat towering over them, he could pretend that this was just normal life.

“Keith,” began Shiro, “Before Kerberos, I made you a promise.”

Keith’s breath caught in his throat. Since his rescue, Shiro had shifted between fragility and the strong confident public face he’d worn as the Garrison’s golden boy. Here, he finally felt the familiarity of the Shiro he’d known at the Garrison. 

“When I was Zarkon’s prisoner, I lost hope.” Shiro’s eyes went distant, “I didn’t dream of rescue, I couldn’t. But that promise I made to you was an obligation. And I clung to it. It kept me from giving up, from giving into the chaos and despair around me.” Shiro turned his focus to Keith and took a step closer to him. “It kept me sane, that and thinking about what I’d do if I ever got back to you.”

“Which was?” Keith’s heart was beating fast.

Shiro’s human hand went to Keith’s shoulder. Slowly, deliberately, Shiro leaned forward and kissed Keith. And kissed him. And kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> Given that I read (almost) exclusively Sheith fanfiction, I suppose it was only a matter of time before I wrote some myself. I usually write longer stuff, it's fun capture just an aspect of the story.
> 
> This will probably be part of a larger collection of short stories depending on schedule and people's responses.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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